Western Australia's Opposition says the State Government needs to do more to protect state housing tenants following revelations a Perth woman faced violent threats and squalid conditions.

Shannon, who asked her surname not be used, said the Department of Housing failed her when they moved her into a trashed house where she was threatened by people looking for cash and drugs.

Labor MP Margaret Quirk said the Department of Housing had a duty of care to provide tenants a safe and clean environment.

She said the conditions at the house and constant danger Shannon was placed in was unacceptable.

But the Government said it was told the home was in an acceptable condition.

Shannon, a mother of three, described how she received at least 20 visits over a 13-month period - including from men armed with knives and one with a gun - claiming former occupants owed them money.

"At the door - bang, bang, bang - there was a bikie-looking man, he actually had a gun in his hand," Shannon said.

"He was irate, wanting money that belonged to him, I was trying to explain to him that the old tenants had gone, that I didn't really know about anything or what he was talking about."

He only agreed to leave after continuing to threaten Shannon for about five minutes.

"He said, if he finds out we're lying, we're going to cop it," she added.

In another incident her five-year-old daughter spotted two men - one wearing a balaclava and wielding a knife - at the door.

Shannon said she spent almost a decade waiting to get into state housing. She is a single parent and one of her daughters has a medical condition requiring regular hospital visits and care.

"In the backyard everything from used syringes, used condoms, to crowbars, bits of stolen phones, anything and everything, just vulgar debris from everything you can imagine."

State housing tenant Shannon

Her joy at receiving the keys to her new home turned to desperation when she saw the state of the property.

"It wasn't even fit for animals," she said.

"In the backyard everything from used syringes, used condoms, to crowbars, bits of stolen phones, anything and everything, just vulgar debris from everything you can imagine."

There was no hot water, someone had stolen or broken the stovetops, tap and light fittings, she said.

But when she approached the Department she says she was told she would not get another chance to access state housing.

They told her she had no grounds to reject the property and if she did not want the home she would be removed from the social housing waiting list altogether.

Month of clean-up led to HIV infection risk

Shannon and her father spent a month and $25,000 removing rubbish and renovating the home.

During the clean-up she says she pricked her hand on a used drug syringe, and had to be tested for HIV and other diseases.

But then the visits from random people began.

"The way we feel, you just feel victimised the whole time," she said.

"I try and remain calm for my kids I guess, and not let them worry too much, but every night, every noise you hear, anything like that, I'm checking on the girls."

I've always said I'm very grateful to have been given the opportunity to have been given housing at a reduced cost, however it's come at high cost for me.

State housing tenant Shannon

She called on the department to take better care when conducting property inspections and placements.

"I believe that somewhat they have failed their duty of care to me and my children," she said.

"I've always said I'm very grateful to have been given the opportunity to have been given housing at a reduced cost, however it's come at high cost for me.

"You see on the TV, they only show the [government] houses that have been trashed and smashed and things like that, [but] there are so many wonderful tenants that fall within the criteria to have a house and rightly so," she said.

"I think a lot of people get victimised, like anything for the people that don't do the right thing, the people that do do the right thing pay for it."

Ms Quirk has called on Housing Minister Bill Marmion to urgently intervene to protect Shannon, and provide her with additional security so she does not have to live in fear.

Housing Minister Bill Marmion told Parliament he was told the home was in a good condition.

"The department considered the property to be in a clean, good and acceptable condition when offered to the tenant," he said.